Pizzeria Nokturno

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There is one place in the very heart of the Upper Town which you just have to visit during your stay in Zagreb! It is an Italian pizzeria called Nokturno located near the most popular street of the Old Town - Tkalča Street.

Personally, I have been to this place 100x times and ordering always the same kind of food - pizzas. It is one of my favorite locations where I use to go not only with friends from Zagreb but with the foreign students and friends from abroad. The prices and the food you get there are very affordable and more than fair.

The name of the place "Nokturno" refers to the short instrumental piece of music mostly played on the piano with a dreamy tone or an atmosphere.

Location and how to reach it?

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It is located in the center of the short Skalinska Street which is at the beginning of Tkalča street- where it starts with lots of cafes and right behind one gallery (you will notice a giant egg painted with the work of Croatian Naive Art), and the Opatovina Street where you get to the famous market place Dolac within a minute. The cathedral is also about 3-4 minutes away so if you are doing a tour around the Upper Town everything is pretty much close to you.

You can reach it from the Main square by going toward the big street in the center of the square that leads to the market place Dolac (You will notice the stairs there) and then you can climb up the stairs, cross the market place, climb up again some stairs until you reach the little square with the sculpture of Petrica Kerempuh. Then simply go into the street that goes down to Tkalča and in the middle of it you will notice the restaurant that also occupies the space the tables outside.

Ther way with less stairs would be to go to the left of the stairs of Dolac directly into Tkalča and then walk about 2 minutes until you pass the giant egg of Croatian Naive Art and Krvavi most street until you reach this Skalinska Street that climbs up to Opatovina.

Opening hours

• Monday-Thursday from 8am-0am
• Friday-Saturday from 9am till 1am
• Sunday and holidays from 8am-0am

The interior and exterior

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As mentioned you can enjoy your time at Nokturno by sitting outside in the street or inside. There are several tables on the wooden platform outside and sun umbrellas. I would prefer to go outside during the warmer seasons as you can feel yourself even more as a part of the community and the rhythm of the city there.

The interior is pretty cosy with the bricks as a part of the wall decoration trying to allude to the old pizzerias or backeries. All in all you will find yourself in a pretty nice space.

The whole interior of the restuarant can be divided into 3 parts as we go down the road. The first one is right after the entrance where we usually check through the glass of the door whether there is a space or not for us to enter (mostly problems in winter when it is all full of people). You will find there also the entrance to the kitchen and the bar where you later pay the waiter for your order (so, paying after you are done, before leaving). The other room is in the upper part and there is one in the "basement". I have never been there, mostly in the first room, so I do not remember much.

Enjoying pizza & other offers

I eat more or less the thing in Nokturno - one of the pizzas they have in their menu. The average price of the small pizza is about 20-30 kuna (ca 3-4 euros) and the big one or normal size pizzas cost between 25-40 kuna, depending on what you choose.

Here is a link to their menu.

Besides pizzas they offer breakfast, cutlet, apetizers, soups and salads, big cold salads, lasagne, pasta, risoto and njoki, meals from meat and fish, desserts... and you can check what new they have in the offer by clicking on the "New offers from Nokturno".

In conclusion

No much need to complicate here. Just go there because with 40-50 kunas in your pocket you can enjoy a very delicious food and drink in the very attractive part of the town and in a very cosy space. As everywhere else you are not being forced to eat quickly and leave so people stay for an hour at least especially when in groups. The only minus here is that sometimes you have to wait a lot for the waiters to notice you and then once you order you have to wait again for 10-20 minutes. This is probably the most annoying part but once the meal is served we forgive everything. I read recently that they have changed and are much faster now so you get your order within 10 minutes after entering the restaurant.

I hope you will enjoy Nokturno as well and let me know about your experience.

Thanks for reading!